Shattered Utopia
by LivingSplice
Summary: After a long uncomfortable pause he broke the silence with a few unsettling laughs, his eyes blackened, before finally speaking. "Interesting, that smile, that was the expression of someone who was seriously anticipating a very different reaction..."
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Everything was going to be okay, Frisk thought. But Sans did not continue talking like before. The silence was settling around them as Frisk continues laughing, now nervously. She attempts to move her hand away but Sans, deliberately does not release his hold. After a long uncomfortable pause he broke the silence with a few unsettling laughs, his eyes blackened, before finally speaking. "Interesting, that smile, that was the expression of someone who was seriously anticipating a very different reaction..."

 **Author's Note:** Hello everyone! I've just finished Undertale's genocide route, and I really got to say that it left me with more questions than answers; not to mention, there's a Mettaton shaped hole in my heart from the fact that the game ended on such a somber note. So, this is my first time writing any kind of fanfiction EVER! I'm new to this but I have a lot of great ideas (or at least I think they're good, I hope you do too! 3) I wanted to write down for other's to enjoy. In my story, expect to see a continuation off from the Genocide route. I'll also try and answer lot of questions as the story progresses in this AU. For this first chapter, I tried really hard to convey some very specific feelings that I had felt when playing through. So here you are, wish you are having a good Sunday and I hope you enjoy my work! P.S! Frisk is a girl in my AU. If you have issues with that; then you are going to have a bad time...enjoy!

 **Chapter 1- The Beginning Begins**

"…Those who are unfortunate to fall down here will be cursed, cursed in a timeless loop until their determination falls or their soul breaks. Seven souls we want, the last soul mine to take. If by chance any mortal leaves the underworld, 20 years will pass before the beginning begins."

* * *

" **White Void"**

"Here I am again, same white room."

"Toriel, Sans….Papyrus…." Her mellow-frail voice broke off as she recounts all of her beloved friends and memories. Looking around, she gaze upon the white void. It was all that kept her company.

"So many years I've relived time and time again. The same story, the same loving friends... Why me, why am I here? What is even here?"

The empty white void perturbed her thoughts. She knew what she had to do, there is nothing for her. Frisk looks blankly forward; the _reset_ was ready. Normally, she called it out at of her own free will, but here, in this room, it looms mockingly in front of her; reminding her that this was the end of the road. And with it, her return was inevitable.

"Once I reset they won't remember me anymore. I…I feel so alone." She quietly sobs. Burrying her head onto her knees. Frisk's eyes swell with salty tears, her heart tremors from the emptiness.

Languidly, she reach out to reset but pauses, waiting, waiting for something.

But nothing came.

Time here was different, with nothing to compare it with; a minute could be a life-time. Or a life-time could be within a single minute? But a sneaking devious thought crept into her curiously bored mind. "Do I really know their every reaction? What if…what if I...-"

Closing her eyes, she lifts her hand with determination to begin again.

" **Judgement Hall"**

"Papyrus…Do you want anything?"

Her eyes widens insanely as the reality settles in. She stared; watching San's dragging himself away from the crumbling hall. There was no going back; somehow, someway Sans had remembered Frisk. "No, no. No, this is not what I wanted! Oh god…I-I didn't mean for this to happen. What have I done!?" Her knees collapse under the reality of her sins, her heart sick with dread.

"You're not supposed to remember!? I only did this because no one had ever remembered me! Oh god! I'm sorry Sans!"

She realized another horrifying truth, from her senseless actions. Did she **really** kill Sans? How was it so natural to kill someone so effortlessly? Too her dismay, she raises her hand to reset, but cannot move. "Why…I can't move?" Her body disobeyed her command, her soul reclines in towards herself as Frisk involuntarily stands up walking away.

It seemed she had lost all control, as Asgore's dust settled onto the floor. Flowey was cowering in front of her, and she wanted to speak. 'No-NO! F-Flowey run…RUN!' She screamed within herself as her knife rose to strike down. In her grasp, was Asgore's soul as Flowey turns to dust. Asgore's heart remained alive through the 5 human souls' determination. Clasping him with both her hands her mouth opens wide, consuming his soul.

The world turned to dust.

 _"_ _Interesting, you want to go back. You want to go back to the world you destroyed. It was you who pushed everything to its edge, you, who led the world to its destruction. But you cannot accept it? You think you are above consequences?"_

…

 _"_ _Perhaps…We can reach a compromise. You still have something I want. Give it to me, and I will bring this world back."_

"You…want my soul?"

 _"_ _Yes and then you can go back; it's what you want, yes? I need your soul, and you want to see your friends again. Funny, how selfish we humans can be, is it not? Give me your soul, or stay here for eternity. Really, I have all the time in the Universe. You'll only be hurting yourself by refusing my offer. But it is your choice; it always has been your choice after all. How selfish of you, to think you're above consequences!"_

* * *

" **Undertale Entrance"**

Her eyes open slowly, regaining focus as she came to in a pool of sunlight. "I'm back…?" Frisk's mind immediately thinks of Sans. How much would he remember? Dread overwhelmed her aching heart, the thought of rejection, the loneliness, and Chara. Frisk missed knowing everything, being able to predict everyone's actions. She no longer was curious to see how her interaction with Sans would play out. She was terrified at the idea that this timeline would be permanent. Frisk clenches her chest with her hands, her own heart appearing before her. "Strange…you're not supposed to be out here?" Examining her own timid heart fills her with sorrow, there was a strange crack in it, light expelling out. "…Go back in"

Walking forward she completed the mundane tasks of interacting with Flowey and Toriel. Nothing new, except seeing Toriel's motherly kindness towards Frisk eased her aching spirit even if just a little.

Looking at the candy she took one piece. The bowl fell down suddenly. Frisk felt like the scum of the earth.

She left the RUINS walking out, the doors slams shut behind, announcing her presence in the quiet forest. Anxieties flew when hearing the stick crack behind her. "Here it comes." She said under her breath when she came to the bridge. Sans voice asked her to turn around. With a few raspy breaths, Frisk reluctantly turns to face him. Her heart burns and it takes every ounce of determination not to cry or run. His face appeared grim at first but lightens up when his eyes met Frisk's petrified expression.

"Hey now, what's with the face kid? Don't be scared. I know my face can be bone chilling, hehe, but is that any way to treat a new friend? Come on, shake my hand" He extends out his hand with a somewhat sweet disposition. Frisk's relief kills off any troublesome thoughts.

Sans did not remember.

She smiles in lull happiness and goes to shake his hand. Sans clasps his boney fingers tight and swings his free hand to hold Frisk's in place. The farting noise expels from his hand and echoing throughout the forest. She began laughing blissfully. Everything was going to be okay, Frisk thought. But Sans did not continue talking like before. The silence was settling around them as Frisk continues laughing, now nervously. She attempts to move her hand away but Sans, deliberately does not release his hold. After a long uncomfortable pause he broke the silence with a few unsettling laughs, his eyes blackened, before finally speaking.

"Interesting, that smile, that was the expression of someone who was seriously anticipating a very different reaction."

Frisk coughed up blood, her blood paints the ground a deathly red as an intense sting shoots through every possible point of her body. Tears began streaming down her face as she brings herself to lock eyes with Sans and desperately cries "I'm sorry…" over and over again. He gingerly removes his hand from her grasp; she continues reaching out for him.

"Yeah, I thought so. At first I thought I was just having some really bad dreams, you know? I don't remember much…fragments of another reality. That was you wasn't it? My pain…my…my brother… You did something terrible. I know it. I can feel it in my bones. I don't remember much, but, somehow I remember you. And I remember our little battle. You will never get that chance to hurt my brother again!" He raises his left hand, a demon head appears behind him, with the same blood-lust expression.

"Until next time. Kid."

 **Upcoming Chapter-Paying your dues**


	2. Chapter 2

**Prologue:** "I can't do this anymore!" Frisk sobbed out. She knew her soul would break soon. The gash on her heart earlier had become inflamed and enlarged. But the intensity of the light was burning out. Frisk's heart will soon give out, no longer able to keep her soul in the physical realm. Now no longer strong enough to move her on to the spirit realm.

 **A.N:** What's up everyone! Thank you for all your views! It might sound weird but I am so thrilled to see that over 100 people has viewed my story! I'm excited for this next chapter! I had planned posting it on Saturday, but I've decided that the Chapter 2 can go up. Just so you all know; I'll make a commitment to post one chapter per week around Saturday afternoons. So in regards to this week I will shoot to post Chapter 3 this coming Saturday.

I think with how it's going there will be around 10'ish chapters. It might get longer, depending on how the story goes. It is a work in progress.

I absolutely loved writing this particular chapter and I hope you guys do too! Also, I love love love seeing comments and constructive criticism; so, please do not hesitate to write!

Not sure if I said this enough….I am having so much fun writing these FanFictions! Have a good day, and I hope you enjoy the next one.

 **Chapter 2- Paying Your Dues**

"…Those who are unfortunate to fall down here will be cursed, cursed in a timeless loop until their determination falls or their soul breaks. Seven souls we want, the last soul mine to take. If by chance any mortal leaves the underworld, 20 years will pass before the beginning begins."

* * *

"Until next time. Kid."

...

"He killed me. Without even an explanation. He just...killed me!?" She stood there in disbelief at her situation. Chara appears behind Frisk, whom seemed very much amused at what was unfolding.

" _Boy! He sure told you what's-what! Te-hehe! I would have destroyed your soul right where you stand had I not been so thoroughly amused! Even so, I really don't think you need my help for that Frisk!"_ Chara continues prodding and belly-laughing while Frisk had her hand on _reset_.

She appeared on the exit side of the RUINS. The cold wind pecks at any exposed skin and Frisk twinged from the chronic pain all over her body. Though there was no longer any visual wounds, the feeling of being punctured and the sensation of being split apart was still very much intact. She peered down the forest and its deceivingly inviting trail, the bridge barely in sight. She wasn't sure where Sans was, or when and where he would pop up. The door slams shut behind her and she continues to walk down the trail. "There has to be a way to get a hold of him. If not...this world...I won't let it end, not if I can do something about. I, have to make it right! To make up for what I've done. Sans...please...-" The sound of the stick snapped behind her. She whipped around to see the same grim expression as before on Sans' face. "...Forgive me."

The wind picks up as the same unsettling silence falls down upon them both. This time no words were spoken, a blue spark ignited Sans' left eye as he prepared for his attack. "Sans wait…!" He snapped his fingers, bones continually shot up from the ground and snow splattered everywhere as they made their way towards Frisk. Once upon her she jumped out of the way but her heart appeared out from her chest and turned blue. "Oh boy…-" Like a rag doll her body slams into the ground, she scrambles to her feet and jumps just in time before the bones shot up from the initial surrounding area. Snow splatters again and Frisk loses her balance falling onto her hands and knees. "Sans please I can explain!"

Sans halts and appeared conflicted, it was clear he was fighting back tears. He took a half step forward looking down, shaking his head he lifts his left hand and clenches his fist tight. In response Frisk's heart went blue. Her body was helpless to resist as she was dragged straight to his face.

"Well!?" He snarled between his teeth, hands twitching from rage as he complied, listening to her excuses. She was taken aback, being so close to him and his threatening magic gave her many unwanted flash-backs. "I-I've been stuck." She finally manage to blurt out. His posture relaxed somewhat but he kept a strong hold of Frisk's blue heart.

"Sans please understand that I've seen you, all of you guys, three other life times before...before I" She trails off, a large agony of shame swept her. "A-and each time when we all lived 20 happy years up on the surface...my world, everyone that I have ever loved and cared for, disappeared before my very eyes. I have been so all alone, I didn't know you remembered anything of the past lives. Had I known..."

Sans interrupts her...

"So let me see if I can paint a picture here...See if I understand this all correctly; you killed everyone you loved, everyone that I have ever hold dear…

He begins to laugh, almost on the verge of crying as he steps over her body looking down.

"...because you were bored?"

Bones sprang forth everywhere and large blinding beams of blue light shot towards them both, distorting Frisk's vision until everything went black.

Damn…. That could've gone better...

Frisk reappeared at the entrance, she continued walking down the path. Perhaps now that that was out of his system maybe she could reason more with him. "He can't keep killing me forever…" She thought stubbornly, marching her way down the snowy path. Frisk stepped over the small branch, and continued on. She began to shiver, the cold air was really bothersome. The stick snapped and she paused momentarily. She intended to turn around but was quickly greeted with a large blue beam of light. Screaming she flew 10 feet backwards before hitting the ground with her rump. Frisk shuffled backwards as she watched Sans take a few steps towards her. "Sans please! You have to stop killing me, I don't have to remind you that there will be consequences, your LOVE will increase."

He paused his advancement towards her. The same conflicting expression went across his face as tears built up on the sides of his eye sockets. He peers hard down onto her, seeming very disturbed.

"I take no pleasure in killing children over and over again. You-you think I do!? You're dead wrong, Frisk! I hate myself every time I see a child's mangled corpse in front of me, because of me, but I know what you did to Papayrus. You gave him no mercy and I ran as fast as I could down there. But I wasn't fast enough, was I? There was nothing left but his red scarf. I cried out his name, knowing no answer would ever come. He...he trusted you! And you hacked him down with everything you got while his arms were wide open for embrace! He may always believe in you, but I am not a chump whose easily fooled. You crossed that line kid! I'll be dead before you ever get far enough to reach Papayrus."

He pauses, breathing heavily, before mustering up all his strength to bring out 4 demon heads. "You should know by now that Mercy is off the table." He swung his hand down down pointing at Frisk. The mouth of the demons glowed, only seeing the silhouette of San's body and his one blue eye. Once again, her vision blurred before going black.

She was dead.

"I can't do this anymore!" Frisk sobbed out. She knew her soul would break soon. The gash on her heart earlier had become inflamed and enlarged. But the intensity of the light was burning out. Frisk's heart will soon give out, no longer able to keep her soul in the physical realm. Now no longer strong enough to move her on to the spirit realm. Frisk could sense it now, sooner or later, she would dissipate into pure energy; because with every reset, she fights harder and harder to keep herself together. With every reset, it became harder to stay alive from the weight of her sins and the constant battles with Sans.

Chara began giggling in the background, appearing near Frisk.

"Why don't you just consume me now? I thought we made a pact-deal...thing" Frisk snaps.

Chara's rosey cheeks beamed red in excitement and her lips curled up to a smile while escaping several blood-curdling laughs. The small Frisk-like child roles onto the back of her heals and gives a devious wink, waggling one finger in front of her nose.

" _Well if I eat your soul now, you'll pass the curse back on to me. And I will remain stuck in that terrible void, always in a loop. But if your soul breaks, then...well it's only a theory after all. You look so surprised! Tehehe, it matters not, Sans has done a marvelous job at weakening your soul for me! Keep going on! Frisk! You are terribly entertaining to watch and who knows!? Maybe you'll get lucky! Keep going my Frisk, otherwise you'll be stuck with me as company!"_

Frisk was at the entrance again. Her breaths were heavy and the cold air seemed to bite harder than ever before. "C-curse…? What is she referring too?" Her hand rose to her chest, her determination...her very soul was dwaining to keep afloat. But her heart refused. "How do I last long enough to prove to Sans that I mean to help him. He doesn't understand...Sans, please, you don't have too...but please help me save this world!" Frisk whips around and grabs hold of the large doors to the RUINS before they slammed shut, threatening to reveal her presence. Toriel blinked on the other side, confused as to why there was some resistance. Slowly, Frisk allowed the doors close, hearing only a low rumble that latched the doors shut. "He...he won't expect it." She whispered walking slightly to the right off the beaten path, hidden within the tall trees. It wasn't long before Frisk quickly became paranoid, the quiet cold air magnified each crunching footstep. Every unusual noise made her jump out of her skin. 'Papyrus!' She thought, looping back to the bridge. A gasp of terror escapes her lips. Sans stood there at the bridge looking out towards the direction of Snowdin. Frisk hid behind a tree now confused on what to do. "Come on Sans...you're literally killing me here." She whispers in a huff.

A dead cold chill traveled up her spine when Sans head slowly lifts up and snaps towards her direction, eyes black. Taking a step towards her, he glitches out, then disappears.

...

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit!"

It was time to make a break for it. "I need to get to Papyrus! He'll save me! L-legs move! Move faster!" She bolts into a dead sprint towards the bridge. Unsure where Sans was or when he would plan to attack. 'I can make it!' She desperately prayed. Instead of running onto the bridge she took a sharp small adjustment and lept off the cliff next to the bridge. A beam of blue light snapped right to her left, desecrating the bridge and giving her the extra push needed to make it across. She fell head over heels onto the other side, the snow softening the fall. "I'm...alive?" That small victory, even if she were to die instantly afterwards, gave her a glimmer of hope, fueling her determination. With her hand on her knee, she braced herself up and continues to run like a bat out of hell.

"Sans! I heard a terrifying boom! Is everything alright?" A familiar voice spoke out in a distance.

Tears of joy streamed down her face as she saw a familiar silhouette forming up ahead. A bone shot passed her from behind, piercing her right through the shoulder. She yelped out a cry but dared not slow down. "Please!" She cried out to Papyrus.

"Please I don't want to die!"

Before the tall skeleton knew it he was suddenly tackled by a very strange human. "A-A Human!?" He yelped out before slamming down hard onto his back. Frisk scrambles up behind him completely exhausted from the chase. "Nye-hehehe! Sans! Look! A human! What a happy day, why, I must quickly prepare for my puzzles!" He quickly gets onto his feet to leave but Frisk held tight onto his hips like her life depended on it. Her arms reached out and around latching herself right next to his hips, burying her face down, waiting for the inevitable.

A seething blue aura surrounded Sans as he reappeared on the other side of the bridge. Papyrus long arm waves to Sans completely unaware of the situation at hand.

"Sans! You lazy bones! While you were off slumbering at the gates I, The Great Papyrus! Captured me a human! I will be loved! I'll have many friends! And finally I can join the royal guard! But this human looks scared to death! Practically a Popsicle! And dreadfully dirty...No no no this will not do! Puzzles await! But first-" He removed his red scarf, wrapping it around Frisk and gently picking her up. "Lets clean you up! And get yourself something hot to eat."

Promptly turning around Papyrus confidently strides back to their home. Frisk peers over his armored-shoulder; Sans behind brimming with rage and 6 seemingly amused Gaster Blasters hovered around him peering down the path towards her direction.

"Hurry up Sans! You don't want to miss this momentous occasion! I have made especially for this day; a plate of my special spaghetti!" Never before had the thought of Papyrus awful spaghetti sounded so comforting.

Frisk voice cracks a moan, but she knew she was safe.

For now.

 **Upcoming Chapter- Sanctuary on Enemy Grounds**


	3. Chapter 3

**Prologue:** She looked up at the window, which confusingly enough was fading to darkness allowing no light to enter. At first she thought she was dead, which wasn't exactly unreasonable. The black room receded ever so slightly, the source of it came from the door handle which was emitting a blue glow, a few clicks later and it was unlocked. It was hard for Frisk to focus, given that her brain had been scrambled all night, but to her surprise no light dare enter into Sans's room. It truly was dark.

 **A.N:** Hello all! Just a quick moment of your time! Just wanted to let you all know that this particular chapter has a very gruesome ending, and I wanted to put it out there for anybody who rather not read a detailed death, it's the second to the last paragraph. :3

Anywho! Thanks for stopping by and reading my work! This particular chapter was hard to write, butI love it (cynical laughter)! It also really sets it up for the next few chapters that I'm excited to get to get back to writing. So Enjoy and see you all next!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Sanctuary on Enemy Grounds**

"…Those who are unfortunate to fall down here will be cursed, cursed in a timeless loop until their determination falls or their soul breaks. Seven souls we want, the last soul mine to take. If by chance any mortal leaves the underworld, 20 years will pass before the beginning begins."

* * *

"Human! Tell me! How is my cooking?"

Frisk prodded the noodly substance with her fork. Holding her breath, she begrudgingly took a bite and immediately scours at the taste. It was the texture of noodles that were left in a pot for days...and yet somehow accompanied by a charcoal chaser? Looking up to Papyrus, she saw he was eagerly awaiting her response.

"Your face...you must have been disgusted with your own cooking styles. After tasting my special spaghetti, it moved you to tears. Tell me!? What did you think of it?"

She swallowed the lump down her throat. It took all her determination to keep it down. After she was sure it was safe to speak, she raised her hand and gave a thumbs up. "It...was like nothing I've ever tasted before." Papyrus's eyes lit up.

"Well, plenty more where that came from! I don't do this for everyone Frisk, but, you seem like you could really learn a thing from me! I will show you my secret recipe!" Papyrus disappeared into the kitchen glowing with joy and confidence. Frisk stood up with plate in hand. She avoids San's curious gaze as she quietly dumped the plate's content out the window. Once she sat down, Sans immediately began to smirk, in response, Frisk shot a glance at him.

"Wow Frisk! You ate all of that so quickly...you must be really hungry. Hey, hey Pap! Frisk here thinks your food is to die for! I think she could use seconds"

"Oh? Sure thing, brother, I'll be there in a moment!" Papyrus returned from the kitchen and gave Frisk another large heap full. Frisk glared hard at Sans, who was snickering up a storm. Papyrus finally sat down and began to eat, leaving Frisk with only one option. "Don't wait now Frisk! Don't want your food to get cold!" Papyrus said eagerly as he pleasantly ate. Frisk took a huge breath, and began the ordeal, wondering if this was how she was going to die.

…

Frisk recedes back to reality; the nostalgic and seemingly vivid memories of a happier Sans fades back to one who wanted nothing but ill will towards her. Presently, the three of them were in the house, Papyrus, still oblivious to the tension between the two, was off in the kitchen cleaning up. Frisk was on the couch holding Doggo, across from Sans. She had grabbed the happy dog when they had first entered the house, knowing that the furry white creature hid itself away in the kitchen cupboard. She swiped the pooch before he had a chance to steal Papyrus's special attack. 'No way would Sans hurt a poor wittle puppy!' She thought, adorning a sly smile while patting the happy-dog in her lap.

Sans was leaning against the table, arms crossed, keeping a close watch on her. He dragged a finger across his neck, and hissed; 'I'll be watching'.

Papryus returns from the kitchen, once again, paying no attention to the daggers of the hateful stare Sans was offering to the rather sheepish Frisk. "Well it's getting late, Sans, where should Frisk sleep. Hmmm...I got an idea! Eh-Frisk? You should sleep in my room tonight!" Papyrus offers.

"Pap that's a terrible idea. Kid can sleep out in the shed."

"Nonsense brother! You saw how cold Frisk was! And how sickly she looks now, she would most definitely get worse if we leave her out there."

"Wouldn't that be tragic?" Sans mumbled.

Papyrus knelt in front of Frisk placing his gloved hand onto her head, ruffling up her hair. "Yeah, you can sleep in my room!"

"H-hey Pap, if you insist the human sleeps inside...Let her take my room, I'll sleep on the couch. I like the couch anyway, don't trust those stairs much; they're always UP to something" He gave a wink while Papyrus gave a mortified face. "Oh my god! SANS! Now dinner night is ruined! Well, very well then. Frisk! Go ahead and unlock Sans doors." His voice trailed off in a mumble. "Though...really I would have preferred a sleepover in my room…"

Frisk squeezed Doggo cautiously before finally getting up and walking across the room towards Sans, who was still leaning against the table. Slipping his hand into his pockets, he grabbed hold of his room-key and reached out to give it to her. Frisk reluctantly opened her hand for him to drop the Key. Sans paused momentarily and gave an ever so slight grin. "Knock yourself out, kid. Don't you worry, ol' Sans here will keep watch for any suspicious activity all night."

"Sans, I don't get you sometimes. Who would intrude our home? Oh, and Frisk, keep my scarf for tonight! I don't want you to get... chilled to the bone! NYE-HEHEHEHEHE"

Papyrus leaves to go upstairs, before entering his bedroom he says one last goodnight and leaves out of sight. Doggo wiggles out of Frisk's arms leaving her to tug at her shirt awkwardly. Sans shrugged his shoulders, getting ready to snap his fingers. "Welp, take off that scarf. You do not get-Wh-where you think your going?"

Frisk shuffles upstairs near Papyrus. "H-hey Papyrus! I-I had a nightmare. I want to sleep in your room." A muffled voice excitedly responds. "Of course! Come in!

"Why you little snot-face!" Sans grumbles while walking up the steps, Papyrus swings the door open, in a one piece gown and slippers. A puzzled (pun-pun-pun) look flew across Papyrus's face before finding resolution. "Oh Sans! Of course it all makes sense now! You were just jealous of me to have a human companion! Well I can't blame you, but fear not brother, I have a solution to make us all happy! Lets all sleep in my room. Not yours...yours too dirty. Ooh I'm so excited! I have specially made sleepover bags for such an occasion!"

"Hehe…" Frisk laughed nervously promptly sticking right next to Papyrus. The tall skeleton swoops Frisk up with a few twirls. "Here, have my bed Frisk. I'll sleep on the gr-what? You want me to sleep next to you? Well...if it makes you feel better...Then yes!" Papyrus laid Frisk down onto his bed and grabbed a hold of the sheets shuffling himself in. Sans casts a shadow from the entrance, he was glaring down suspiciously at the foot of the bed. Papyrus looks at Sans and pats onto the bed. "C'mon, there's room for all of us!" Papyrus pulls Frisks up to his chest to give Sans room. He slowly gets in folding his arms behind his head. "Sleep tight…" Papyrus said mid-yawn before immediately falling asleep. Frisk was squished by the two, and she tenses up being so close to Sans. She peeks up towards Sans, who was looking straight at her.

Exhaustion took over and her eyes became heavy; despite the uncomfortable predicament, time traveling makes it easy to forget that sleep is a necessity and thus knowing she was safe, she shuffles to her side, curls up and falls asleep.

Later that night Frisk begins to shiver notably, an intense cold wind blew up her shirt as she tried reaching for the covers...eventually trying to reach for the bed. "What the…?" Slowly opening her eyes she finds herself hovering outside Papyrus's window, both Sans and Papyrus seeming fast asleep, however Sans left eye was slowly seeping out blue aura. "Sans!" Frisks whispers, "Put me down!...Sans...Sans!?" But there wasn't a response. Moaning she wraps Papyrus scarf over her shoulders trying to reach for the window, but it quickly slid shut. Frost slowly began to form onto her covered shoulders and she curls up to preserve warmth. "No way he's asleep" She stated, now completely upside down, surprisingly, it was like being rocked to sleep, in thin air, really cold thin air. Frisk levitated at a snail's pace towards Sans's window, which promptly opened when she reaches for it.

Looking into the room, it was completely dark; like light that cannot escape a black hole. She enters unwillfully, completely frozen from the outside, but her heart stayed blue. "Where is that asshole taking me?" She asked to nobody. She felt her levitating-journey finally come to an end, and falls. To her surprise however, instead of meeting the ground (or bed), she is greeted with gods-knows-how old spaghetti to the face and begins to feel yanked around in a spiraling circle. "Dammit Sans! Get me out of here!" She demanded, she felt herself quickly become sick from rotating constantly, but dares not puke her meal from last night, it would only make things much worse. "Sans! I swear I'll kill you! Ahh….!Ugh…!"

…

...

Papryus was wide awake early the next morning, having not been use to guests sleeping at their house, he had completely forgotten about Frisk and was reading his one recipe on the bed. Sans was curled up next to him, sleeping the opposite direction and resting his head on Papyrus's lap. Sans eventually wakes up, his content expression turns to disappointment when seeing that Papyrus had already been awake before him. 'What I get for sleeping all the time, can never get pass an early bird.' He thought, contemplating on what he should do now with Frisk.

It was going to complicate things.

Papyrus stretches out leaning his head against the dashboard of his bed, the really cool red one, that's a car. "Something is missing...Oh! Yes! Frisk must be up early! But she hasn't come back in? I wonder where she is?" Papyrus soon noticed Sans was awake. "Oh Sans you're awake, do you think Frisk might have gone off into your room?"

San shrugged, scooting up to sit on his knees while rubbing his eye sockets. "Probably, being that there's nothing but trash in there; I think it suits her better, " Papyrus scratches his head in bewilderment and was moving to get up but Sans stopped him. "I'll go check on the kid. You have that cooking lesson with Undyne today right? Should go get yourself ready." Papyrus looked discouraged; sensing a slight betrayal of abandonment from Frisk but he quickly buried that inside, reminding himself of how selfish it was of him to want to force friendship onto somebody.

"W-well...I wanted Frisk to join in on the lesson. But okay, I'll get ready. Sans...let her know she's still invited to come! B-but don't make it seem like she has to come…" Papyrus put on a fake smile; something which Sans was all too familiar with. Sans saw right through it and felt the need to make his brother happy.

"Hey Pap don't worry, I'm sure she wants to go. I'll check on her okay. She...just isn't used to new things, probably still scared and confused from her new surroundings. She'll come through and before you know it you two will be best buds in no time...I promise." He placed his hand on Papyrus's lap, giving a reassuring smile. It did seem to help as Papyrus was gradually getting more enthusiastic, happy at the prospect that Frisk would be his best friend. Sans sighed and got out of bed. "I'll...go check on the kid now."

"Sans...why don't you call her by her name? I think It might make her feel more at home!" Papyrus offered sincerely, not possibly understanding why it was that Sans refused to address her by her name. Sans avoided looking at his brother when he reached the door, careful to not have Papyrus see his eyes were black.

"Sure thing, bro."

Frisk had been spinning around all night, she kept watching glimpses of the window to see that the dark cavern was lighting up, indicating daylight had arrived. Surprisingly, even when underground there was minuet but noticeable changes during cycles of day and night. Most notable however is that the cave became uncomfortably cold at night; something which Frisk had the most unfortunate pleasure of finding that out for herself today. Sans had forgotten to close his window, and the bitter cold threatened to turn her blood to slush. Frisk however took it harder than one should; every time she died, she slowly becomes more and more detached from her body. This detachment was making it harder for her to brave on against the elements; Frisk was dieing to an eternal death.

She looked up at the window, which confusingly enough was fading to darkness allowing no light to enter. At first she thought she was dead, which wasn't exactly unreasonable. The black room receded ever so slightly, the source of it came from the door handle which was emitting a blue glow, a few clicks later and it was unlocked. It was hard for Frisk to focus, given that her brain had been scrambled all night, but to her surprise no light dare enter into Sans's room. It truly was dark. Suddenly the tornado dispersed and Frisk fell to the ground.

Sans walked in, bunching himself together. "Hehe guess even with a hot head like mine, anybody could cool off in this room. That...was a joke." Frisk replied with a moan, she would be furious right now, or frightened, really she could have any emotion right now but couldn't muster up any; right now, she was just trying to not throw-up, or die. She was just trying to prevent whatever came first. Sans slipped his hands in his pockets, he would move to kill her, but seeing how close to death she was, he just waited for her to die. "Come on kid, why don't you just reset already?" He asked, genuinely curious as to why she held on in this timeline.

"I want to talk." She said, her muscles involuntarily twitched, attempting to generate it's own source of heat.

"Go right ahead, I aint stopping you. Be warned, you ain't getting my sympathy. Or forgiveness."

"I don't want that anymore." Frisk exhaled, giving a sincere smile. Sans's eyebrow arched up, curious with what she had to say. The room morphed and degenerated, giving the illusion that they were no longer in the same place. "I want to save this world...you don't know this, but I sold my soul." Her eyes became heavy, she could feel her body succumb to hypothermia but refused to die just yet. Sans listened on, apathetic (maybe numb?) to her pain; he was patient and more or less curious to hear more. "When you died...a girl...Chara…s-she...dust." She tried as hard as she could to stay alive, but due to her Hypothermia going into full effect, she fell onto the ground convulsing. "Hehehe! Ooooo! Sooo warm in here Snansy!" She said trying to remove her clothing, the Hypothermia was driving her to deliria and she began to spluttering out words futilely. If skeletons could turn pale, Sans would have, as he watched on. It was not a pretty sight. He could see that the girl should have died minutes ago, as her body tensed up, but she still wanted to live. Disturbed from the prolonged and gruesome death. Sans slipped his jacket off from his bony shoulders. He felt himself go sick as he dropped it over the small child's almost lifeless body. Inaudible moans and sounds escaped her lips; she was still trying to talk. Sans tensed up, really not wanting to provide any comfort, but he did not have the heart to stay aloof. "Shhh...Hey it's okay now… Don't talk-it's okay-be still." He patted her shoulders trying to give her any comfort. When it was clear she wasn't going to stop he reluctantly summoned his bones they hovered for a moment, before finally moving to kill. She yelped in pain, tenses up then slowly her body goes limp.

Sans didn't remove his bloodied jacket from the child's corpse; somehow not seeing the dead child masked the sickly pain and hatred towards himself. He sighed, as he felt himself dissipating to the blinding white light; Frisk had resetted. He could feel portions of his memories ripped away from him. Part of him wished it would all go away, so that he might find peace with each reset. But the trauma scorched his mind, refusing to allow him to forget. It was why he never let Papyrus learn the truth of the deaths of his friends. Protecting Papyrus would allow him to not remember past lives, to not feel the same torment. Before finally disappearing in the blinding white light he sighed.

"Kid...you got some explaining to do."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hehe, always sleeping on the job. Sooo predictable."

…

He was in an all too familiar surrounding, judgment hall. There was a kid, a familiar face, but he could tell he held a lot of resentment to this human. He stayed quiet behind the pillar, observing, something had urged him to not make his presence known. "I've seen this before, haven't I?" Sans asked, it was an intense case of deja vu. Suddenly the room "glitched" out, each blip forming another child version. It wasn't long before the room was in complete chaos as several hundreds of the same human child was fighting simultaneously. He would crouch to his knees to protect himself from the debri that flew past him; but this particular scene, he knew he seen this before. So instead of following his instincts he remained standing and observed quietly. One child fell in front of him, seeming to acknowledge his existence, her eyes widen in confusion before being impaled by several bones, the life leaving the child's eyes. Sans crouched down to the kid moving his hand across their eyes to close them. He held mixed emotions, were they supposed to die? He hid from most of the battle, lights were blaring everywhere and the pillars strained to continue on their responsibilities from the abuse. Many of them met terrible endings just within minutes of the battle. Whoever their opponent was, meant business. Soon the room went quiet, and he dared to take a peak. The onslaught paused, he could hear a voice, his voice, speaking to what few kids remained. All but one of the many had expected foul-play. One child was moved by the other's word and began to sob, dropping the knife and seemed to be welcomed for an embrace. He thought it heart-jerking but that moment was short-lived, to his confusion, the child met the same fate as the others, murdered by the figure, who held onto her whispering something.

The war raged on fiercer than ever. Only when the battle became more meticulous with the remaining few did he finally felt safe enough to get a better view of their formidable opponent. He had a sneaking suspicion on who it was the mass was fighting against. Moving closer and peering behind the pillar he felt a lump form in his would-be throat as he saw much darker version of himself killing off the human children. His version increasingly enjoying the murders with each death. "T-that cannot be me…" He pleaded, not wanting to believe he was capable of getting off from such thrills. Then two were left, both mimicking each other's movements. 6 Gaster Blasters simultaneously appeared surrounding the two, for a final and all out flashy end. He was almost rooting for the kids, believing that for-sure both would meet the same fate as the mass from such an attack; one defied his thought and he sighed in relief. She was nearly dead but had enough determination to deliver the final blow. It was over. The kid was about to strike and Sans looked on in disappointment as she slashed twice, the other Sans finally slain. As if remembering the pain on his chest, he pulled his shirt away from his chest and saw the indented markings that moved eerily similar to her attack across his ribs. He gave a slight chuckle, having always pinned it on some strange birthmark. "Well that explains a lot...is that where this scar comes from? No...no this is some twisted dream I'm having. R-right?" The would-be dead Sans pauses, and looks directly at Sans, which really unnerved him. Sans quickly wanted out of there and he shook his head as if trying to wake himself up.

"Wait before you go...get a load of this kid!"

A crackled voice spoke behind him. Sans nearly jumped out of his bones and twists around to see who spoke but saw nobody. The room began to crumble, as if saying he had intruded here long enough. The kid fell to her knees and began to cry he couldn't make out all of what she said, only until plaining hearing 'What have I done!?'.

"Hehehe classic...Welp really we should get out of here. Not much left from this timeline and you really don't want to stick it out to the end" Sans felt something wrap its arms around his shoulders before squeezing tight, then both disappeared.

…

"Sans...please don't die! Sans wake up!" A distant voice called out.

…

"Wh-where am I?"

He was surrounded by a grove of trees. This place, it seemed unreal, like someone who's going throughout the day like a machine; their minds preoccupied but life demanded for more attention; no matter the issue. He took a moment to gain his groundings confused as to why he was here or even how he got here. Whoever grabbed him held on tight, not giving Sans the chance to get a good luck at his capturer. Looking on, he could see a skeleton standing out in the open, standing still until they dropped to their knees. This one was whimpering quietly out beyond the grove of trees near a river. Sans could feel an old wound open up in his heart but why and from what he couldn't pin it on. When he finally grasp the situation ahead he could see them on knees silently crying, holding onto a scarlet-red scarf. "I-is that me?" Sans clenched his chest wanting for a better view, but was pinned in place by the other. The vision-Sans got up conjuring up a Gastor Blaster; sweat and tears stream down their face. "You'll pay for this...You dirty brother killer!" Sans froze still, was it being pointed at him? He felt himself being torn away from the dream before the Gaster Blaster fired. The world went white.

...

"SAN! Please wake up! Can you hear? Sans I got you, everything is going to be okay! I-I'm calling A-Alphys right now! Please….S-"

…

He reappeared in a dark and familiar space with the other still holding on to him. Sans tried to struggle out but soon blue magic seeped out and began to entwine around his entire body. "L-let go of me!" He hissed out trying to break free, but the other paid no attention, rubbing their head against Sans's shoulder before finally speaking.

"Ahh sorry it's been so long since I have had any contact. Feels good, y-ya know?" The other confessed.

Sans began to squirm more, but the harder he tried to break free the tighter the other's embrace was. It was extremely uncomfortable, the other's magic was seeping out and engulfing them both, non-threatening, but he didn't much care for the idea of being completely entrapped by someone else's magic. After a few more half-hearted attempts to break free he relaxed and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Look, how bout this, ya let me go? I'll give you company. Won't run away. Deal?" This seemed to make the other loosen his grip, a pause later and Sans was pushed to the ground. He let out a grunt when he hit the ground but quickly got to his knees, the blue streams still holding his arms to his sides. "Alright, good...now. I'm going to turn around nice n' easy, alright?" Sans moved to his feet and turned his head to see the character before him. Boy...was he a character.

He was looking at himself, albeit one that had seen better days. There was a fresh scar across their entire chest, starting from the top left shoulder and down to the right hip and dripping red. Many of his clothing had been torn and stained red. Parts of him were missing, like a broken chalk that decayed with time this Sans had lost half of his head to dust.

"Yup! It's me! You! You're the first to even acknowledge me! Yay-congrats!"

Sans could tell the other wasn't all that right in the head and was beginning to feel like he was going insane too. "Hehe I think I got to lay off on the ketchup. Some pretty strange dreams I'm having. Is this a fever-dream...can skeletons even have fevers?" There was a panic in the other's eyes. The magic entrapping around Sans tightens up, as the other frantically began pulling them closer, closing the distance between them. Sans knew not to struggle; in an attempt to not spur on more of this Sans erratic behavior he allowed himself to be pulled in. "Woah hey buddy! Already told ya I ain't going nowhere. Don't worry!"

"You promise?" The other Sans asked, reluctant to believe him but then glitched his suspicious expression into one that was smiling. "I've been watching you. Strange isn't it? Your dreams, they notice you! Kinda like how you notice me!? But that's insane right? I mean. They are only memories after all, they can't really see you. Right?" He seemed like he was going to explain further on the subject, but then became very distracted, with the expression of someone who was being scolded at. The other quickly broke out a laugh, switching onto mundane topics, things of unimportance, like the weather. Sans was really unsettled and confused, this other him was all over the place. But he pitied the monster, seemed like the other him just wanted someone to talk to. Sans also wasn't one to judge, this other him must have been through hell. Finally after the other indulged himself on his one-sided small talk, he glitched back and forth from smiling to stern.

"I can't keep you here...I know this. It's not easy ya know? Being alone-T-trying to find you! You! Never stay long enough in the code for me to get to you. Word of advice, that kid." Suddenly what remained of his left blue-eye turned more vibrant, the strings around Sans tightening, threatening to injure and undoubtedly take out his 1 hp. "Frisk..and that Chara-brat, keep an eye socket out for them would you?" Sans twinged in pain, before sighing of relief when the magic laxed and dispersed. The other seemed to 'power-off' as his eyes was devoid of life before quickly glitching out then reappearing and hugging Sans tight once more. He was startled and resisted a bit when the other glitched right next to him. "Wowsy! I must look pretty crazy to you hu!? Don't let my appearance fool ya...please...You should get back to your world. Looks like you're in a world of hurt right now out there! But if you want to find me! Take the day off, and go out on one of your 'short-cuts'. Try hunting for me in there! Sure makes my job easier. See ya!" The other seemed extremely reluctant to let go but eventually pried himself away and smiled a fake smile before finally glitching out of existence. Sans turned around to look at his environment, there was a rip in the dream that opened to a window, Papyrus was on the other side standing over him. They were at what was presumably the post near the RUINS. He began walking towards that direction, before turning around and seeing the scene behind him. He watched another Sans kill the same child, though his jacket was covering up the little girl's body. "Hmm...I gather that I'm suppose to know Frisk. So, who is this Chara kid that he mentioned…Welp, better leave and find out what's happening out there. Gather myself more information. Think it's time I pay Alphys a visit…"

…

…

Frisk was at the exit side of the RUINS. She blinked, confused, it seemed warmer than usual. She looked down to her arms, realizing that Sans jacket had followed her to the new reset, it was no longer tattered from her previous death. "This...is new?" She was confused, on one hand, it made sense, considering she was never naked in other resets, on the other, it seemed wrong to have this with her. "I shouldn't keep this." She spoke bundling herself in the comfort of Sans jacket. It did a wonderful job at insulating the heat, and kept her from trembling in the otherwise bitter cold. She walked on allowing the doors to announce her presence. She expected Sans to meet her before passing the stick 'checkpoint'.

But no one came.

Frisk began to feel more alone than ever, he didn't snap the stick? "Really Sans I know your stealthy but this is not like you?" She continued walking and paused at the bridge. The silence killing her worse than Sans ever could. "H-hey Sans...Come out already!"

No one greeted her at the bridge.

Frisk lingered for what seemed to be an hour. Why had Sans not showed up? Surely it wasn't like she had a chance to move him with words in the last timeline. Even if she did, he would or should have shown up regardless! 'Chara, can you hear me?' She asked internally, suspecting that that girl had something to do with it. A cold chill went up her spine as she felt a presence invade her body. 'Nope! Not me.' Was all the predicted response gave before the invasion hastily disappeared. She walked pass the bridge and began to suspect that Papyrus was not going to be there. To her displeasure, her suspicion proved to be correct. Her reluctant-walk soon paced out into a full sprint as she wasted no time to make her way to Snowdin.

Frisk quickly found her way blocked off by two large demon skulls on pillars, in between them an iron gate. The demons on top of the pillars lied there, devoid of life, as if they had been there for centuries. The pillars were etched with a strange writings, and depictions of what the Demons would looked like wrapping their one dimensional skeletal-bodies in a spiral down the columns. A horse drawn black carriage emerged from the blizzard on the other side of the gate. In this a hooded driver and 6 human souls, some children, some adults were the carriage's passengers. The one driving was startled by Frisk's presence, as if having not expected this encounter. Frisk could see that these horses were skeletons, black magic seeped between their bones giving them a more whole and complete appearance. Silence filled in between each howling blizzard wind. Frisk had a chance to examine the carriage's passengers. 6 human-like souls sat obediently, all giving different magnitudes of shock, annoyance or concern at Frisk's presence. Each soul having it's own color and distinct characteristics. Soon the driver opened a small door at his side and jumped to the ground, the snow breaking from his weight. He walked to the gate and halted.

" **?** **￢ﾘﾟ✌❄ ✌** **?** **￢ﾘﾠ ✠** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ** **?** **￢ﾝﾄ** **? ?** **￢ﾘﾹ ✌** **?** **ﾟﾕﾆ** **? ❄ ✡ ? ✌ ? ?** **￢ﾜﾡ** **?** **￢ﾘﾟ✋** **?** **ﾟﾓﾪ** **?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ** **."**

His voice was cool and collected, demanding attention. But he paused, as if expecting a response. Frisk felt the loss of control over her body; Chara was possessing Frisk. "No! I refuse! I like it here, I refuse to go back to that thing!" Frisk involuntarily spoke while pointing at the skull to the left. As if reacting to the presence of Chara's soul, the demon-head statue whom Chara had been pointing at began to animate into existence as the the slender skeleton disappeared back into the blizzard. The skeleton released one of the souls from his carriage. A small girl, clad in purple, in her right arm held a notebook and her eyes were covered, glared by the large round glasses that clinged at the very tip of her nose. The purple soul quietly walked forward looking somewhat forlorned, she looked up, transforming into a purple heart which rises up and settles onto the skull that was not animating to life. The Gaster-Blaster began staining purple from the soul and lifted itself up, hovering for a moment before opening it's mouth to speak. His voice vibrated Frisk's very bones as it spoke.

" **?** **￢ﾘﾠ** **?** **￢ﾀﾝ**

The demon who had lacked a soul had its eyes filled up with white magic. Soon it began clicking and twitching; the one dimensional image on the column began morphing out. Each click warranted a spinal disk to sprout to life life from the image as it attaches itself to create the spinal cord. The formation stopped at the lumbar portion of the spine, as if not having the energy to complete the metamorphism. The previously detached skull now had half a spine, it's rib sprouted out from each spinal disk holding onto the column and acting as legs. This Gaster-Blaster came to, and adjusted their gaze to look directly at Frisk.

"Okay I get the picture. I'll just get out of your hair-and... Eh-he" Chara released her hold onto Frisk, who promptly takes a few steps backwards, then turns around and began running away. The demon behind them stayed quiet, before immediately moving to chase, its' body mimicking how a centipede would run. There was no competition, Frisk ran as hard as she could and did what no one should do in a chase; look backwards. The Gaster-Blaster easily closed their distance and when it was practically on top of her it arched it's back up. They striked true, sinking their fangs onto Frisk's shoulder to hold her in place. Before Frisk could even cry in pain she was already in the coil's of the Demon's body. She yelped writhing from the pain and fear. Once held in place they released their fangs from her body began speaking in a different dialect.

" **?** **￢ﾘﾟ✌ ✌** **?** **ﾟﾓﾬ** **?** **ﾟﾒﾣ✡** **?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **ﾟﾒﾧ** **?** **ﾟﾒﾧ✋** **? ?** **￢ﾜﾡ** **?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **￢ﾘﾹ** **?** **ﾟﾓﾬ** **?** **ﾟﾏﾱ✌** **?** **￢ﾝﾄ** **?** **￢ﾘﾼ** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ** **? ✋ ? ✌ ?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **￢ﾘﾹ✏ ✋** **? ?** **￢ﾘﾜ❄** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋** **? ✡ ?** **ﾟﾓﾬ** **?** **ﾟﾓﾬ✋** **?** **￢ﾘﾼ** **?** **ﾟﾓﾫ** **?** **￢ﾝﾄ** **?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **￢ﾘﾹ** **?** **ﾟﾓﾬ** **?** **￢ﾜﾡ** **? ?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **ﾟﾒﾧ** **?** **ﾟﾒﾧ** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ❄** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋** **?** **ﾟﾓﾬ** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ❄** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ** **?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **? ✋✞ ?** **￢ﾘﾜ ✡** **?** **￢ﾘﾼ** **?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **￢ﾘﾹ✏ ✋✞** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ ✡** **?** **￢ﾘﾼ** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ❄** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋** **."**

It's smallest ribs poke and prod until it pierced into her chest. She screamed as she watched the sharp ends enter seeming to pierce her beating heart as it reappeared in front of her. Suddenly a blast of purple shot at the back of the head of her capturer. This Gaster-Blaster spoke to the other in a low but stern voice in the same dialect.

" **?** **￢ﾘﾟ ✋** **? ❄ ?** **￢ﾚﾐ ❄ ✡✏ ✋❄ ✌** **? ?** **￢ﾚﾐ** **?** **￢ﾘﾹ** **?** **￢ﾘﾼ** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ** **?** **￢ﾝﾄ ❄** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ❄** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋** **? ?** **￢ﾜﾌ❄✋** **?** **￢ﾘﾜ** **?** **￢ﾘﾼ ❄ ✏** **?** **￢ﾝﾄ ✡** **? ✋ ?** **ﾟﾕﾆ ❄** **?** **￢ﾘﾼ✌❄** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ** **?** **￢ﾜﾋ ✏"**

The demon seemed to ignore what the other was saying, attempting to reach out to Frisk's heart. Another warning shot and finally the other snarled losing interest on her heart but continued to prod and pierce Frisk's body, as if searching for something else. Frisk screamed and tried to struggle helpless to the relentless onslaught. Her vision began to blur, but before she passed out a blue light circled her, shielding her from the continued attacks.

"Hey, don't think Frisk here likes that much. You know better, you dirty devil!" A voice spoke out. Frisk was swooped up by what seemed to be Sans, but white powder softly fell from his skull and onto her chest. Sans reached his free hand out touching the riled-up Demon who stared down onto him as if contemplating their next move. Blue magic drained from Sans into the skull, subduing the Gaster-Blaster as its body parts fell to dust, leaving the iconic image of one of Sans's own. "Better now? Good, now get outta here!" Both demons obeyed retreating back as Sans falls down on one knee. "Phew! Should get outta here ourselves, elsewise this Sans going to bite the dust." They glitched out from the location.

...

Frisk woke up, unsure where she was. It took her a moment to finally realize that she was in the code. She was shown this once, when she took one Sans's so called 'short-cuts'.

"Oh good, you finally woke up! Here I thought I was going to be alone in my own thoughts. Would seem to be my lot in life." Sans was fixing her injuries with green magic he seemed strain to complete the task and in the end was disappointed with his work. "Sorry, I know it's rudimentary, it's the best I could do, you won't die! B-but I'm afraid I'm not fluent in this form of magic." He confessed looking over her. Frisk eyes swelled up having immediately recognized who was actually before her. She casts her eyes down curling up into a ball away from his grasps.

"You're alive after all...not easy to get rid of, are you? It's good I mean. I am glad to see you" She brought herself to look the Sans before her, noticing half of his head was gone to dust. Sans picked up on her disturbance and glitched out half of his face so she didn't have to continue looking at it.

"Hey no worry little Frisk-besides-should look at yourself! We've both seen better days." He laughed half-heartedly before going silent. "I ugh...can't stay long, got other arrangements. You lucky I found you before anything bad happened. Somehow stealing my jacket brought you places where you don't belong. Saw you making small talk with my ol' Dub-G! I knew that wasn't going to end well. He's not the best with complicated situations."

Frisk was dizzy from confusion. Many questions flooded her head at once. How was he alive? Where was she? Who was the man in the horse-drawn carriage and the souls that accompanied him? Why were Sans's Gaster-Blasters after her? Most importantly, why did Sans save her?

"Sans…! How can you talk to me like that? I've been nothing but a monster to you. You saved me. Why? I don't understand, it's like you've said, kids like me should be burning in hell. So why go through the trouble of removing me from hell?" She casts her glance downward, eyes puffy and strained red. Sans looked uncomfortable, his eye sockets lifeless as he struggles to say anything.

"Nope! That's where you're wrong, see, cuz, that was not a beautiful day to be burning in hell." That invited a laugh from Frisk, but she lowered her head onto her knees. "Phew not doing too swell are ya? Well Frisk some more bad news, your little friend...Chara I think I heard he say. She took over your body and is now roaming free. There's things I have to do, don't go die now. Specially after all the hard work I put into healing your heart." This caused her to get up onto her feet worried about what Chara's plans were. Sans placed his hand onto her shoulder, she recoiled. He looked down and sighed taking a couple steps back from Frisk. "No point going after her yet. At this moment, Chara can't find you, which I thinks gotten her into a sort of panic. As far as she's concerned, she just lost your soul to Gaster boy back at the entrance. Let her have her fun, we have to get a hold of Sans. Speaking of which time for me to go pay a visit too."

Frisk gave Sans a confused look, was he not Sans? Sans swiped his arm to the right, opening up a window to Judgement hall. A battle, their battle, was in full swing as she notices a Sans-like figure hiding behind a pillar. She looked away, feeling her sins crawl up her back. "Every time you reset, I remember parts. Figure you know that bit by now. I won't ask why, why you took my happiest memories of us away. The sun, I forgotten anymore how that felt on my bones." He sighed, Frisk was trembling and avoided any eye contact with Sans. "My brother always believed you could be good. For his sake, I want to believe that too. If you really want to change our fate. There is away…" His face began to glitch and he gave out a few weak chuckles. "I'm dying. Frisk. This code won't hold me much longer. There's a way we can fix this, but it won't be easy." He began walking his body phasing out from the code.

"But you need to be strong. Frisk. Stay determined."


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N.** Hey guys! It's been a busy two weeks for me! So sorry that I've been not keeping true to my time-quota. In this chapter we are fully committed to Sans P.O.V., I'll probably switch back to Frisk in later Chapters. I hope you enjoy this piece and thank you for stopping by and continuing to read my work! 3 Until next week!

 **Chapter 5- Staying Determined**

"…Those who are unfortunate to fall down here will be cursed, cursed in a timeless loop until their determination falls or their soul breaks. Seven souls we want, the last soul mine to take. If by chance any mortal leaves the underworld, 20 years will pass before the beginning begins."

"What happened?"

Sans made out a groan, his head ringed with tension. He tried a few raspy breaths and attempted to get up only to be immediately halted by the intense sensation and burning on his skull. What had happened? Failing to get up, he decided best to sit on his knees and reluctantly moved his hand up to his head his fingers traced what he could feel was the culprit to all the pain, a large crack. The ringing tune became loud and his already blurred vision began turning to little white stars flashing before his eyes so he jerked his hand back tingling from the pain. What exactly happened? After a few more breaths of preparation he finally pushed through using his post as support to get himself up onto his feet. Try as he might the world around him would not give way to focus. After leaning against the post a few moments he tried recounting his memories, or dreams. He knew he knew the kid, Frisk. But who exactly was this Chara girl? He needed answers, first thing was to find who beat the snot out of him. He looked down to his pockets, his hand was covered in blood and now stained the inside of his jacket. "What... the kid just knocks the snot out of me and decides to not finish the job?" He asked to the world, a shuffling on the other side of the post caused Sans to jump. He took a few steps back his heart racing as he stumbled falling onto the ground. Through the ringing in his head he heard a sudden and painful shriek as a figure jumped over the post and squeezed Sans tight. It was almost too much for Sans as he tensed up from the noise and impact. "Hey I have a SPLITTING headache you know? Mind keeping it down a bit?"

"Oh thank goodness Sans you're awake! I thought I lost you."

"Pap?" Sans choked out, his vision was still blurred but he could see orange-glowing-tears streamed down his taller brother's eye sockets. Though Papyrus was happy it was clear to see he was drained, both physically and emotionally. Papyrus gave a weak and relieved smile but he dropped his head unable to hold himself back from crying while repeating 'I thought I lost you' over and over again. The situation seemed paralleled, as Sans unwillingly recounted the memories of the disbelief that his brother was dead. Sans reached his arms around his brother's shoulders laying his head upon Papyrus's head. "I'm here brother, you're not alone...I'm still here." He could feel his jacket tightened on both sides, his brother was holding onto him tight.

"Sans I thought you were dead! You looked so lifeless. I tried, I tried so hard and kept trying to heal you but your body was turning to dust right before me. I was so scared... I don't want to live in a world without you."

Papyrus large hyperventilated sobs sooned turned to silent ones. Sans knew this pain, he knew this fear. The anxieties shooting through your very soul, knowing that your brother's eyes would never open again. The numbing pain of not wanting to live anymore; knowing that it was just yesterday your brother was alive and well. Or that the oven had been left on and food was still on the table, hot, waiting patiently to be served, now to no one. The dreaded empty feelings. Suicide. It all flooded back into Sans's mind and overwhelmed his heart, threatening to split in two. He tightened his own grip around his brother. Sans had to remind himself that his brother was still here. Alive and well. It fueled Sans's own determination to never experience that moment again. Before he realized it they were both softly crying, he could feel his wet blue tears staining his brother's scarf.

Soon the muffled noise of a phone ringing broke the silence. Sans strained to look up, at the corner of his post there was a soft glow and buzzing noise. He didn't want to let go of his brother, they both ignored the ring.

Soon their world returned to silence.

But the phone rang, again, incessantly, until Sans could no longer bare the noise. The high pitch tune hurt his head and made him dizzy. That kid sure did a number on him. Sans lifted his brother's eyes to meet his, and gave a warm reassuring smile before straining to get up. It felt as if the world was turning underneath his feet, and his legs lead, as he took what would be three steps to the post. He nearly toppled over from the imbalance but caught hold of the wooden counter leaning his chest onto the post for support. Grabbing the phone, he flipped it open, but the call was missed. He could barely read the illuminated screen, and honestly he wished he didn't have to, the bright light only dazed him more. After straining and forcing himself to focus, he could read 12 missed calls from Alphys.

"You uh, missed a few calls from Alphys, Pap?" He asked as the phone pinged a new notification for the newest 13th missed call.

"I was trying to save you... Alphys said she wouldn't make it in time. She said I needed to do it. Heal you myself. I-I n-never done that before. B-but I tried, I had too... I tried healing you, but the moment I paused to grab the phone you would start dying on me and ooze out this red stuff here...What is with all the red stuff on you skull anyway...Sans?" He asked, his phone wasting no time to ring for it's annoyingly 14th time.

Sans looked down at his bloody hand. "It's uh...ketchup I think? Answer that phone already Pap. The ring is killing me." Papyrus nodded slowly, he took a deep breath while taking it and bringing the phone up to his head but moved it away quickly when a high-pitched and nasally voice screamed through the speakers.

"Finally! Papyrus how's Sans holding up? Is he dead? T-the human. They have made their way to Asgore's place. I-I d-don't know what they are planning to do but they have the 6 human canisters! U-Undyne...tried t-to stop them… She...She is…" There was a loud snort, it seemed Alphys was choking up on the other side of the phone.

"I'm sure she's fine?" Sans quickly said before snatching the phone away from Papyrus, who was standing there quiet. Sans gave Papyrus a hug, who then turned around. Holding the phone to his skull, he could hear Alphys squeaking in a whimper on the other side, trying hard to not break into a full sob-fest. "Alphys, you there? I need you to focus right now. Alright? I need you to focus here on me and my bro, we're are going to meet you at our house. You bring all the documents regarding the time-space anomalies. Think you can do that for me?" There was a pause on the other side, she must have been near her computer as he heard a few taps of the keyboard clicking away.

"W-what about the human? I d-don't think I-I-I..I'll make it out before running into them. They are w-walking back to the hotlands. W-why?"

Sans sighed he took a few steps towards the direction of Snowdin. But very quickly the world around him world began turning to one side, he succumbed to the imbalance and fell forward. There was a gasp as Papyrus ran to his brother looking Sans over. Sans felt himself fading to death, while the muffled voice of his brother began crying 'no no no'. It would have been easy for him to fall to dust, to just die, but his brother's frantic crying drew him back to reality.

Sans burst into full gasping breaths as everything around him took on an orange hue. His brother's vibrant eyes were strained by the effort of his magic to keep up the constant and demanding task of healing. The voice on the phone began to become frantic as well, questioning on what was happening.

"I'm fine. You know, my thing for constant naps and all." Sans finally blurted out, he tried to ignite his blue magic but that was a quick mistake as the pain lanced through his head. He took one deep breath, before fishing the phone up off the snow, "You're going...you're going to have to be strong Alphys. Try to hurry, you don't have to grab everything. Just some of Gaster's older work will do and the results we've found. If they get too close, just leave. Don't risk your life okay?" He hung up the phone dropping his hand to his side.

Papyrus walked up in front of Sans, examining him further, once again. Once the both of them felt it was safe enough to start moving, Sans was heaved onto Papyrus's back. The tall skeleton made their journey back to Snowdin, both not much for conversation. Sans watched his brother carefully, Papyrus looked exhausted and drained; Sans mentally kicked himself, at the moment, he couldn't do a damn thing to help out. The crunching footsteps and Papyrus's labored breaths were the only things that kept them company.

"The human...why are they doing this? They almost killed you, brother. I can't imagine if I had lost you...if...I have to stop them… No, I refuse. I refuse to believe that they are that bad. They're just confused, and misguided, they must be hurting so badly, to do this to us monsters. That's it...just...confused...and hurting."

"Pap you will do no such thing. That kid's dangerous!"

"I have to brother! I might be able to talk some sense into them! Maybe...maybe if I show them how good we monsters really are, show them kindness and compassion. They'll see the error of their ways, I'm sure of this!" Sans wrapped his arms around his brother. The seeded memory sprouting in his mind watching his brother die to Frisk before him. Sans looked down to the scarf around his brother's neck, and began to tremble at the thought.

"Please. Please don't. I can't bare to see you die again." He finally admitted, he began to breath faster, losing the rhythm, he was reminded once again the crack on his skull as the ringing came back in full force. Papyrus tilted his head up towards the side confused at Sans's statement.

"Die? Again? I don't understand, what do you mean Sans?"

Sans sighed resting his head on the Papyrus's shoulder. "I don't really know what I mean. I think it has something to do with- I'm sorry Brother… I don't mean to scare you, they're just...nightmares. Yeah. I've had strange nightmares of you dying, weird huh? Must be some weird psychologically damaged keesh thing going on."

"Is there something I should know about brother, the psychological thing not the keesh?" Papyrus inquired, they had reached Snowdin. The area was uncomfortably vacant. It had either been evacuated or killed off by the human child. Sans really was not sure which way it went.

"I don't know. Right now? I don't have the answers, but please, just please don't go near that human. They aren't worth it. Not worth your life. Don't leave me…"

The two brothers made to their home. Papyrus had walked to the front but Sans tapped his brother's shoulder shaking his head no, and pointed to the back door. Kneeling down, Pap allowed his brother to slide off his back. Pap gave a concerning look down while examining his smaller brother's skull. Shaking his head he turned around to leave. In fright, Sans quickly grabbed and clung onto his brother's wrist; a little too roughly than Sans meant. Papyrus smiled weakly touching Sans's hand in reassurance.

"I'll be right back. Just going to grab a few things from the house."

Sans nodded, reluctant to let go but finally released his hold. He watched his brother disappear around the corner. Only when he heard the front door shut did he then turned to unlock the back door. Entering his mini-laboratory. How long had it been since this room occupied a living soul? Years really, he gathered, once W.D. Gaster had 'died' in the core, Sans only visited this place a couple times afterwards before shutting everything down.

Looking around, he could recall the times that they had worked diligently together. They had just made a remarkable breakthrough. Before then, it was just some far-fetched theory; that there was more than just one absolute timeline.

 _Early one morning data was just being collected and analyzed when the news of the second human had entered the RUINS. Sans was late to enter the laboratory, as per usual, when he noticed Gaster had seemed disturbed reading the results. Little Sans could not yet comprehend the results, and was only tasked to run blood samples collected from the corpse of the first child. It was expected that they would obtain more blood work from the new human who had come down. "This is most unfortunate." Docter G mumbled as he paced back and forth within the mini-lab, in his hand he was holding a glassy-container, the other held onto some paperwork. Little Sans in his over-sized lab coat jumped on the stool near the operational machine, it whirred and hummed in delight. Sans did not like seeing the Doctor this distressed, he wanted to make Gastor feel better. So he looked around and saw Doggo in the room sleeping in the corner, which immediately gave Sans an idea or two._

" _He-he-he, Dr. G, you seem growl-chy? Having a ruff morning already? Don't worry! We'll just sniff out the clues to this puzzle! Like we always do!"_

" _That last one was a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Gaster snapped as he tossed the papers onto the counter while making his way to the machine. Sans gave a hurt expression watching as his caregiver came closer. He waved his hands in the air, the fingertips barely visible past the cuffs of the lab coat._

" _Woah okay! Don't need to be so barking mad about it!" At this Gaster gave a painful groan but in the end he couldn't help but chuckle._

" _Please you must have mercy on me, no more!" Gaster pleaded placing his hand on top of Sans head who in turned giggled and adorned the largest smile. Sans was victorious so nothing more was said._

 _It wasn't a few days later when little Sans entered the vacant laboratory. Papers and trash littered the floors and the machine was all but broken. He was going in there to clean up, since the disappearance of his caregiver meant there was no one to analyze the latest results. There was already talk about a new potential head scientist, Sans felt bitter resentment to this monster. No one could replace Gaster, no one was worthy to review his caregiver's work. Sans intended to throw everything away in a fit of rage, but he couldn't, this place was the last clue of Gaster's disappearance, before later hearing Intel that his caregiver had fallen into the core. Sans knew better, it was Asgore's way of saying that they had no idea where Gaster had ran off too. He would hid all the evidence of Gaster's current discovery of accessing different timelines. It was believed that the machine might be the answer to finding a way out of here. Pictures had been teleported into the machine from unknown sources, as Sans remembered, seeing eerie images of people who he did not recognize, some he did. Images of him pushing his brother on a swing out on the surface, taking turns with what were presumably humans and monsters children alike. Sans was bent on getting the instrument operational again; he believed for years Gaster had left their timeline for another one. A better one._

Presently, Sans stumbled to the quiet machine and he placed his hand onto the cold metal surface. "Never could figure out how to get you started. Hmph. Welp, I should go visit my worser half. I doubt Alphys will provide any information that I don't already know." He leaned up against the machine and closed his eyes thinking of Grillby's.

Sans felt himself phase into the code, it took a lot more out of him than he realized. Beads of sweat ran down as he tried to gain his bearings. He looked around, slipping his hands back into his pockets, it took every ounce of determination not to fall into the urge of passing through the code as quickly as possible. Gaster had showed him this place, but warned Sans to not stay in the code longer than necessary; eventually chastising him every time the small skeleton was caught going into it at all.

Sans decided not to get up from his sitting position, only waiting, partly because he was worried that to stand would cause him to pass out from exhaustion, rightly so if earlier today proved anything. It was something Sans would prefer not do here in the code. It wasn't long before the 1's and 0's began to glitch into a pattern, queuing Sans that 'he' was nearby.

"Hey! You decided to join the party afterall! Thought you ditched out on my invitation!"

Sans looked up to Geno-Sans. There was the little murderer looking out from the side of Geno, she was lightly holding onto that red scarf. Instinctively he jumped to his feet summoning a Gaster Blaster, with as much magic as he could muster, the Gastor Blaster's mouth began to open, but instead of firing it merely yawned. Completely drained, Sans dropped to his knees. His demon hovered nearby next to Sans, not moving, only quietly observing the situation with veiled amusement. It wasn't until the little girl smiled lightly and reached out her hand did the Demon Skull began to hum a low purr. It shifted its gaze to look at the girl with one eye. And then switched to look at Sans for a moment before passing on it's own accord to sniff Frisk. Sans blinked, dumbfounded at the situation.

"What the…? H-Hey just what exactly do you think you're doing?" Sans asked his Demon, who ignored him, entirely captivated with Frisk's soul and how easy it was to nudge her off-balance. Geno-Sans laughed. Sidestepping the two, he walked over to sit next to his better half. He slumped an arm around Sans's shoulder while crossing his legs to sit.

"Hehehe see, lots to fill you in on. For starters, these beauties!" Sans watched in confusion as Geno-Sans winked over at him, and opened his palm up, magic seeping and balling up within his palm. Immediately, the demon notices and shifts away from Frisk (who had fallen down on her rump) towards the two skeletons. After sampling the offered magic the demon shoves his forehead into Geno's chest. The broken skeleton began laughing, scratching the under sides of the jaw as the demon commences purrs of affection.

"They always come when commanded, that they really can't control. Technically, any monster or human can call a demon, but they prefer interacting with us monsters. Our magic draws them to us, they use that magic as a source of energy. Now for humans to call a demon, they have no magic." Geno directed the demon head towards his face shaking his head at the creature playfully.

"Therefore it's the soul that these devils want."

Sans shook his head, his hands rubbing the temples of his skull trying to digest the information. "W-wait...this is nice I mean, but, let's take a step back from all this. What does this have to do with anything? How bout I ask some questions, for starters, what in the actual hell is going on here?" Geno shrugged his shoulders, it was clear he was disappointed with how Sans was reacting.

"Penny in the swear jar." He retorted quietly, scratching the bridge of the Gaster's nose.

But the human Frisk began to slowly walk towards them. Anger and fear overwhelmed Sans, this time, he opted for several bones. They lingered nearby, threatening to shoot forward should Frisk continue walking. Geno in response shook his head and tsked, the child did not move any closer. She looked away respectively. Again that annoying disappointed look crossed Geno's face, this only spurred Sans more as he was about to protest or try to understand what was going on.

"Hey buddy, I know this is a lot to take in-"

"So it was Chara then? Frisk, so it wasn't you...? Because why would YOU kill my brother!?"

Geno sighed, waving Frisk away as he got up, blocking Sans's view of the child. "I need you to focus, Sans, you already know the answer to that question." It was an obvious false hope to hold onto. But the wound reopened for Sans, that feeling of betrayal from a trusted member of the family. He didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think about it, so he did what he could do best; recline in towards himself. The code continued to eat away at Sans's energy, accenting his own exhaustion, his mind blocking out the two around him. He eventually 'powered' off, eyes devoid of life. Geno knelt beside him, his eye slowly seeping out blue the magic and it flowed from Geno to Sans. While doing so he finally turned to meet the frightened and guilt-ridden child, the monster perking up in attention behind Frisk at the sight of the magic. "Frisk, go play with our friend. Us two boneheads have a lot of boring things to discuss. Things that would be better if you didn't hear." Frisk slumped her shoulders but nodded obediently, she wanted to hug Geno before leaving, but again he shook his head no. She looked defeated before finally leaving with the Gaster Blaster who promptly and gently pushes her off her feet. Sans mumbled traitor under his breath.

"So, I'll let you ask the questions. Sans, what do you want to know?

Next Chapter- "Stay tuned for next week cuz I cantz thinks of one right now... XD"


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N.** Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this one! 'Evil laughter'. Btw we've switched to Frisk's P.O.V.

…

Hope you enjoy this. See you next week!

Chapter 6: Titles are Not Easy

"…Those who are unfortunate to fall down here will be cursed, cursed in a timeless loop until their determination falls or their soul breaks. Seven souls we want, the last soul mine to take. If by chance any mortal leaves the underworld, 20 years will pass before the beginning begins."

* * *

Frisk tried to listen in on the conversation but it was to no avail; they were barely audible, she was within earshot so she knew they were intentionally keeping quiet. A sharp pinch shot up on her back as the demon's teeth snatched at her jacket (Sans's really). Her mind now diverted as she turned to look at the Gaster in light-hearted disapproval. The demon continued to tug, pulling her away from the conversation, clearly not content with the lack of attention it was receiving. Even with the demon's gentle nature, it was still large and still powerful; so even with the slightest pull Frisk could feel her feet nearly going off the ground.

She grew annoyed at her failed attempts to eavesdrop, the constant nag of attention from the demon didn't help. So instead, she turned her focus to the demon as her stomach rested at the bridge of their nose. Moving up onto the tips of her toes, she tried reaching for the horns but settled for the arch of the eyebrows using them as balance. Frisk was giggling as she watched the small-white-pellet pupils cross to look at her. It wasn't long before she could no longer feel the floor, her feet dangling freely under her.

Her heart reappeared in front of both Frisk and the Gaster, it's pupils dilating away from her and instead to the heart. Frisk blinked as she watched the heart hover between the two, but she could feel a force open up within her, instinctively, she looked to the left, the heart moving in response in the direction of her gaze. She looked towards the right, the heart moving to the right. All the while the Demon's focus was totally entranced by the heart as it adjusted their gaze accordingly to the movement. It wasn't long before there was chase as the two zipped around in the code, she in a way controlling how the Demon was flying by the direction of her heart. The scene caused the two Sans looked up, Geno genuinely happy and laughing at the absurdity, Sans looking with mild amusement. It was hard to steer a flying demon head, considering Frisk couldn't really see where they were going in her current position. So Frisk adjusted herself to look behind her, she watched as the two amused skeletons expression turn to panic once the heart moved in front of them.

"Watch out!" She squealed playfully as the Demon bombarded onto the skeletons, making no attempt to slow down on impact. Her heart disappeared within her as the group were glomped together looking as if they were in the middle of an intense game of twister. Her body ached and her stomach curled from her laughter, she was definitely going to feel this in the morning. The Gaster shook itself free from the tangled bodies but continued to nosey its way to Frisk commencing the soft nibbles on her chest. She wasn't sure, as she tried to push the demon away in a playful-like manner, but she could've sworn she heard a low whisper vibrating from the bones of the demon skull.

Sans was smiling, as he got up brushing himself off, but he seemed strained to keep it up as he slipped one hand into his pocket, the other was extended out towards Geno.

"So, what you're saying...is that Frisk...Chara, both could have been the last soul needed to break the barrier, to complete this curse?"

Frisk perked up at that, remembering Chara saying something similar. Geno nodding looking nervously towards her, he seemed pained to protest, but decided better and continued to speak in response.

"When the humans blocked us all underground, it couldn't be done without magic. So their priestess summoned a demon. The price for humans to call upon a demon are their own souls. Honestly, 7 souls is generous offer, considering that Demons needed to lock an entire species down underground...

...So yes, a curse was placed with the help of several demons; to break the barrier, 7 souls are needed, as you know. You might remember Gaster attempting to recreate a canister, a replicate to that of a human soul, so it could be used as a replacement for souls. In the end, the best his creation could do was contain souls, not replace them. This caused quite a riot within the demon realm, those souls were not meant for monsters. We've unwillingly just ended up holding those souls as captive hostages. Those poor human souls, I wonder how confused and scared they must be, they were never meant to be imprisoned like that."

"So, how did you come across with all this knowledge? I mean, if we are the same Sans, how do you know all this? Cause this is all sure the first time I've heard it...I think?"

At this Geno gave an unsettling grin, he turned to motion Frisk on over and she reluctantly came, the demon following pursuit behind her continuing to ignore Sans still-annoyed glances.

"Well that might best be answered by our ol'Dub G! Listen, I'm going to take you two to the demon realm. Sans, I can't go to any tangible world beyond the code. Can you do an old monster a favor and take me along with you?"

Frisk blinked a bit in confusion. A whole lot of this last statement did not settle well with her.. She shook her head at the thought of being attacked, and the chance of it happening again. Frisk crossed her arms in defiance turning away from the two.

"We are not going back-that demon was scary! I don't want to go back to that!"

There was no response, and she gave a sideways glance; there it was, Geno's nearly shattered blue heart. Sans looked nonchalant as he grabbed the soul, appearing to open his mouth wide and bringing it closer. At this Frisk started squeaking shaking her head no. She quickly raced over and gripped onto Sans's sleeve, stopping him from doing whatever he was about to do. The short monster was confused before finding resolution and he looked down onto her placing his free hand on her head. He shrugged with a slight chuckle.

"Hey kid, unlike you, I'm not going to hurt him. Monster's can't actually eat each other's souls, they just don't digest like it would if I, say, I ate yours... Same goes for humans; humans can't absorb human souls."

His words sting Frisk at the mention of her hurting Geno. It's obviously true, this only reminded Frisk that Sans clearly did not care for her. She wanted Sans to trust her again, to like her again, like old times. Hard press to blame him though; her sins, the memories of killing everyone crept onto her back, and the same gaping emptiness in her heart was reopened. But her resolution was still intact as her grip was tight onto Sans's sleeve. He gave a rather irritated sigh and gingerly switched the heart to his non contained hand. The moment she saw him bring Geno's heart into his mouth she looked towards the now heartless skeleton who gave a warm smile of reassurance. Even with the knowledge that Geno would be okay, Frisk couldn't bring herself to accept it and she squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the gulp, the heart disappearing inside Sans.

She squeaked again when she could still heard Geno speaking. How was he still talking?

"See? Nothing to be afraid of. Alright, let's get going." He said with a wink. Geno moved himself into a seated position, legs crossed as he opened a portal to what seemed to be the RUINS exit.

Now both Sans and Frisk had a confusion and worried look across their face, each for their own individual reasons.

"It's all good, I told you, their world is remarkably similar to ours. Some minor differing details and what have you. They exist parallel to our home and throughout the entire world, the closest entrance is just up ahead. Frisk, obviously I'm not going to follow you two, but I'll still be with you. Don't worry, I'll be guiding Sans while you both are in there, it won't be like last time."

The two walked across the threshold, Frisk looked back, Geno's body suddenly looked lifeless, sitting there, eyes blank like the human rock near waterfall. Then just like that the code disappeared and revealed behind what was large doors to what would presumably lead to Toriel's home?

It was just Sans and Frisk now. The two gave each other exchanged glances before walking on.

Frisk's could feel her heart pound, any harder and it would surely jump out of her chest; words failed her, she wasn't sure what to do or what to say. Eventually she just bundled herself in the jacket she had from the previous timeline. Frisk tried her best to not appear anxious from the uncomfortable silence.

"So you've been here then. Hu?"

His voice made her jump, he sounded apathetically curious. She could tell Sans was just as uncomfortable; was it his attempt to make at small talk?

"Y-yeah, Geno said it might have been because of your jacket. Guess we match now. And it's much warmer than Papyrus's scarf."

'Oh god that's what you say? We match now!?' Her breaths fell out of rhythm and she could feel her face become warm, flushed from anxieties. Great, why did she have to mention that, she thought towards herself eventually tucking her hands within the pockets. Sans looked at her, then down towards the jacket she was wearing and didn't give a response.

That awkward silence continued.

With much relief to Frisk, the two in their silent company made it to the iron-black gates. Sans seemed preoccupied with something, instead of looking on in awe at what would seem to Frisk a spectacle; was Geno talking to Sans? As expected on top of the columns were the two demon heads, that deceptively laid on top, 'as if' devoid of life. She eyed up suspiciously, knowing better.

Sans left Frisk side walking towards the gates, there seemed to be a lock on it. Looking both left and right down the grove of trees, in both directions a stone wall extended and disappeared into the darkness of the trees.

"Maybe we can climb over?" Frisk suggested

"Not a good idea." Sans simply said

"Why are we here? Geno didn't really explain that part" She inquired, Sans casually shrugged in response, clearly not sure himself. She looked up to the two guardians of the gate (as she would put it) and they loomed quietly, either aloof to their presence or just didn't care. Sans's hand touched the black gates, the lock immediately fell down to the crunchy snow. Again he seemed preoccupied but Frisk looked up, the two heads suddenly were facing towards Sans's direction. At this a shiver shot up her spine. Sans slowly opened the gates.

"Alright, guess that's, uh, it? Let's keep walking."

Frisk was tugging the elastic bands at the bottom of the jacket. She was reluctant to move forward, in fear of the demon on the left to animate into life, like before. The fact that they had changed positions only made her more unsettled and afraid to move forward. Sans waited looking at her, his patience quickly wearing thin, not like he had much with her to begin with.

"Lets keep moving." He said with forced friendliness.

"You wouldn't be so damn brave if you saw what I saw!" She retorted, still reluctant to move. Sans gave a wink and replied sarcastically.

"Penny in the swear jar."

She began her reluctant walk, the small skeleton's eye went blue as her heart reappeared in front of her. She could no longer feel the earth beneath her feet, she now was levitating towards him, he continued walking.

"Sans no! B-bad! Put me down!"

She squeaked unable to do anything. She levitated pass the gate to Sans's side, to her horror, sounds on the left began emitting a grating scraping sound of stone. Her heart pounding faster, she tried to contort herself in an upwards position to see behind her, the demon sat solidly, still appeared lifeless, but it continuously pivoted it's face following their walk.

"Okay Sans! Put me down!" She finally said struggling to remove herself, failing miserably.

"You going to actually walk?" He asked, continuing to march forward.

"Yes, I will but-Oooph!...Hey. What gives?" She accused, apparently Sans was no longer focusing on her as she rammed herself into his back. Something had blocked their path, a full bodied demon, black magic seeped out but it also had flesh that barely clinged to the bones, some of itself slipping off in piles of steamy flesh. It looked like a large dog, with a long whipping tail the length of the creature's body, having a dangerously pointy bone at the tip of it's tail.

The creature took notice of their presence, it immediately hunched it's back forward, the long tail arching up like that of a scorpion. Both Frisk and Sans gave each other worried exchanged glances, Frisk's stomach dropped. Sans took a half step forward, Frisk wanted to strangle him, the hell he approaching that beast of a monster for? Her fingertips reached out and snatched hold of Sans's fluffed hoodie. The creature stood it's ground the rotting gums revealed when its lips curl up to a snarl.

"Sans, please put me down." Frisk said quietly but with clear sternness, it's not that she didn't trust Sans, well, maybe she did actually just didn't trust Sans. She was ignored, as she watched on helplessly as the small skeleton yanked himself away from her attempt to stop him and began his walk slowly towards the ticked creature. Frisk was left behind in that spot, paranoia settled in as she looked around, now exposed and no longer safe by his side. Sans extended his arm, careful as he went down on one knee, now looking eye level with the beast. The creature seemed more pissed off, the tail pointing up and over it's body towards Sans, the creature lunged snapping down onto Sans's hand. It began pulling Sans off his feet ringling his head back and forth the dog was clearly powerful as it dragging the frantic Sans away from the scene.

"Sans!"

She cried out, helpless to do anything but watch as the creature snapped up onto Sans neck the tail whipping and striking all over the poor skeleton's body at unimaginable speeds. Two hearts reappeared in front of Sans's chest. Frisk stomach turned, she could feel herself become more free to move. A few flickers later and Frisk fell to the cold snow. Her bare hands quickly picked up snow from the ground and balling it together, the ice bite at her hand as she could feel the cold travel up her arm, hardly the time to be concerned about that though. She tossed the snow towards the creature's direction, accidently hitting the two blue hurts. Sans winced at that as both hearts flickered.

"Jesus kid! Carefull!"

The creature momentarily distracted which gave Sans a chance to kick the dog in the jaw. The monster gave a slight yelp but, in process of falling, the long tail whipped around it's body for balance before striking onto Sans's left shoulder, lifting the skeleton effortlessly up off the ground. Sans yelped writhing from the pain but a constant pool of magic surrounded his neck and hand and now shoulder.

"Hey c'mon pup, play nice."

Sans wearily said extending his hurt hand towards the creature once more, the magic now balling up. The creature continued looking straight at the now freed Frisk, it nearly lost interest in the skeleton until the hand came closer. The black eyes snapped towards Sans. Quickly the threateningly angered expression turned to that of a hungry pup at the sight of the offered magic. It gave in to an excited whimper the bottom half waggling frivolously low to the ground. She could see the magic leave from Sans towards to the now happy pup, it's eyes glowing blue.

After the creature seemed content it looked momentarily towards Frisk before skulking off into the woods. Sans turned towards her, beads of sweat moving down him as he began laughing nervously.

"Welp, that went better than I thought!"

Frisk stood across the way, mouth agape, 'That went better than he thought!?' Drawn from her thoughts, she watched as he began spitting out blood, falling down onto his stomach. Frisk eyes widened, she felt sick, but unable to vomit. She gasped racing falling down onto her knees next to Sans.

"Hey Sans what you doing? G-Get up!" She couldn't see from the distance, but now closer, she could see his determination spilling onto his jacket, he was melting!? One heart rose up from the skeleton, it was mostly broken but it glitched and disappeared into a small portal.

"G-guess that didn't go better than I thought...he-he…" Sans croaked his body tensing up with each laugh.

She hugged Sans tears streaming down her face. Her mind was so confused, what was going on? But fear filled Sans eyes. He coughed up more blood and Frisk wasted no time to embrace him squeezing at the sleeves of his white-gunked jacket. "You idiot! Why did you do that!? Don't leave me Sans, please, don't leave me alone!"

Sans went silent, his chest rising and falling in erratic rhythm. He eventually looked around a bit confused at Frisk but his trembling hands gripped tightly onto her shoulders. "Hehehe...G-guess that's it?" Sans was starting to fall apart he tried to give a weak smile but his face drooped, oozing himself onto Frisk. She, unwilling to break herself from his grasp.

"No...no no no I-I'm… I'm not ready to die!? Pap, he still needs me...Ngh!" Sans clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, he couldn't muster himself to cry but he was in a panic. Now he was falling to dust. His own determination not enough to hold himself together, try as best as he could.

"I got you Sans. Everything is going to be okay. Next reset alright? J-just wait for the next reset." She so wanted to believe that but her determination was outmatched by Chara's. She kept cooing though, trying to be strong...

Frisk lost her ability to reset.

What was left of Sans began to shiver in fear. His grip harder onto Frisk. "I'm scared! I don't want to disappear! Please! I'm not ready! Please! Somebody help me! Papyrus-...!" Just like that, Sans was no longer there, his body had turned to dust. The melted portions on Frisk began to collect the dust that fell all around her. Frisk sat there in shock, her dusted arms lingered out where she was just holding Sans moments ago.

"S-sans?

…

…

The fuck do I get out of here?"

Suddenly, she can feels a presence appear behind her. Turning around, she spots the man that drove the chariot horses earlier that day, or night. Nevermind the specifics.

"What do you want." She says defensively, hand raised to block an attack.

The figure looked on in silence for a few more moments, before solemnly lifting a finger towards her,

"Penny in the swear jar."


End file.
